Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/01/29

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Subject: [Leica] Selective Leica/photo bibliography (LONG)
From: Nathan Wajsman <nathan.wajsman@euronet.be>
Date: Fri, 29 Jan 1999 11:40:52 +0100

Back safely in the relaxed athmosphere of my Brussels office, here is my
suggested
reading list regarding Leica and photography in general.
The list is of course highly selective, based on my own experience.

1) LEICA-SPECIFIC BOOKS

Jonathan Eastland, "Leica M Compendium", Hove Books 1994. A good basic
book with
descriptions
of all the  Leica M models from the M3 to the M6 (but not the latest
M6HM or the
TTL versions of the M6).
Also describes all the current lenses and the more common of the older
ones. There
are chapters on how to
use the rangefinder, how to handle and utilise the Leica. Other chapters
describe
the more common accessories
such as the Visoflex, the MR meters, the Rapidwinder etc. This was my
first Leica
book. Cost about 30 GBP.

Gianni Rogliatti, "Leica--The First 70 Years", Hove Collectors Books
1995. This
book is more equipment-oriented
than Eastland's and covers all the important Leica cameras, i.e. the
early screw
mounts, the M system, the Leicaflex and
the R system. It does not have "how-to-use" chapters. While Eastland's
book is
aimed at the user, Rogliatti's is more
relevant for the collector. The two books complement each other, with
Rogliatti
being more throrough and covering
more of the Leica history. I am certainly not a collector, but I find
this book
both entertaining and useful. About 30 GBP.

Next, two small books from Hove Collectors Books, the "Leica Pocket
Book", 6th ed.
and the "Leica Accessory Guide", 2nd ed.
(published in 1994 and 1996, respectively). The Leica Pocket Book covers
all
cameras and lenses, with specifications, versions,
serial number series (up to 1992). I find it quite indispensable. The
Accessory
Guide does the same for accessories. I found it
extremely useful, for example, when I was looking for an external
viewfinder for
my M3. I carry these two small books in my
briefcase at all times. I cannot remember the prices, but they are under
10 GBP
each.

Finally, the magnum opus of Leica books, James Lager's three volumes,
"Leica--An
Illustrated History". Volume 1 covers cameras,
Volume 2 lenses and Volume 3 accessories. These are big, fat
coffee-table books,
with beautiful pictures of even the most obscure
equipment. They are aimed squarely at collectors but as a user, I enjoy
looking at
them nonetheless. These books are available from
the Internet bookshops ( www.bookshop.co.uk or  www.amazon.com ) at
around 100 GBP
or $160, or you can buy them directly
from James Lager (tel. 1-210-768-5426) at a special price for LHSA
members (see
below) for $130.

To someone just starting out with Leica stuff and seeking basic
information, I
recommend the Eastland book and the two pocket
books.

2) OTHER LEICA-SPECIFIC RESOURCES

On the Web, there are two supreme sources of Leica information. The
first is Erwin
Puts's site,  http://www.imx.nl/photosite/leica/leicahome.html .It is 
especially strong on information about the various Leica M lenses.
Erwin's
test reports are second to none.

The second site is of course Leica's official web site,
http://www.leica-camera.com.
If you can read German, go to the German version of the site, as there
is some
information there that is not included on the English version (e.g.
about the
Leica Card programme).

The Leica Historical Society of America (LHSA) publishes a quarterly
journal,
"Viewfinder", with many interesting articles and quite stunning Leica
images. In
addition, the LHSA also publishes the "Leica Catalog", a buy-and-sell
publication
for members. If you are looking for some obscure accessory and want some
reasonable
level of assurance that you will be dealing with an honest person, this
is a good
place to look. Most of the ads are from people in the USA, but there is
also a fair
amound of European members. I bought my M3 from a guy in Germany who
advertised in
the Catalog. To join the LHSA, write to LHSA Secretary-Treasurer,
P.O.Box 250089,
Plano, TX 75025-0089, USA, or e-mail its president, Bill Rosauer, on
leicaman56@aol.com.
Annual membership fee is $60 overseas and $45 in the USA.

Umschau Verlag in Germany publishes Leica Fotografie International in
English, French and
German. Opinions about this magazine are divided. Its information
content is quite low
compared to the web resources listed above. The portfolios featured in
it are of varying
quality. The translations into English are sometimes quite funny, it is
obvious that they
are being done by non-native English speakers. All in all I find that
this magazine is not
a good value for money compared to the ones I list below (but I still
buy it...).


3) NON-LEICA SPECIFIC READING

BOOKS
There are many excellent photography books out there. I will single out
the following:
Ansel Adams's series "The Camera", "The Negative" and "The Print" has
recently been
re-issued in paperback. Even though these books are from the early 80s
and focus mainly
on B&W photography, they serve as a good source of inspiration to anyone
interested in
pursuing perfection. More recent books to recommend are two really
comprehensive works,
both published by Focal Press: Michael Langford, "Advanced Photography"
(6th ed., 1998) explains
all the basics and a lot more too. If you want to know about the meaning
of MTF curves,
or how film really works, this is the book to have. If you want to get
deeper into the
technical side of things, optical principles etc., then "The Manual of
Photography" by
Jacobson, Ray and Attridge (8th ed., 1988) is worth buying. Each of
those two books costs
between 20 and 30 GBP and is available from the Internet bookshops, as
are the Adams books.

MAGAZINES
After having looked at many, many photo magazines (both UK and USA) I
have settled on the
following three:

- -Photo Techniques, www.phototechmag.com, or 1-800-877-5410. A wonderful
magazine with real,
informative articles, such as Erwin Puts's article about the Noctilux
lens last fall. Do not
confuse with the British magazine of a similar name. $21.95/year in the
USA, $26.95 elsewhere.

- -Camera Arts, 1-916-441-2557. Focuses more on the fine art side of
photography, and on print
making. Beautiful reproduction and in depth-articles on topics such as
variable contrast printing.
In Europe, call Lotus View Camera at +43 6278 7900 for a subscription.
$25/year in the USA, more
elsewhere (I do not remember the exact price). Be sure to specify Camera
Arts and not View Camera
Arts, published by the same company.

- -LensWork Quarterly, www.lenswork.com or 1-503-659-2130. No equipment
reviews, exclusive focus on
art photography and portfolios. Interesting interviews with
photographers, high quality stuff all
around. Subscription is $29/year in the USA and $49/year overseas.

None of these magazines will provide you with basic reviews of new
camera models, and they also
do not have the kind of enormous ads for mail order outfits that you
will find in magazines such
as Popular Photography, Amateur Photographer or Practical Photography.
Those more basic magazines
of course have their place too, but if you are after in-depth contents
and great photography, then
the three I listed above cannot be beat.

On a final note, I have only included English-language publications in
this writeup. Of course there
are many fine magazines and books in other languages too, but since this
is going to an international
audience, I have excluded them from the review here.

Nathan


imxputs wrote:

> I would like to invite Lucien and Nathan and some others who seem to have
> collected all material around Leica to produce a short list of reference
> material tthat anyone should read and digest. I will offer to indicate what of
> this literature is really of importance.
> In this manner we can produce a basic reading list for ourselves and for new
> members on this list in order to avoid reiterating the same stories time after
> time.
>
> Erwin



- --
Nathan Wajsman
Overijse, Belgium
Photo page: http://members.tripod.com/~belgiangator